Australians overseas - and doing drugs

This applies no less in Indonesia than it does in Australia. Therefore the Indonesian Government can't trumpet the tired, old, "when in Rome, do as the Romans" line to justify its oppressive laws. This argument is logically and morally vacuous.

All people are entitled to have their fundamental interests at least minimally protected. That's why we see a slow, but sure, convergence in basic moral principles across the globe. So slavery and discrimination are now almost universally deplored - even in Rome and by Romans.

The related notion of national sovereignty also only gets governments so far nowadays as a means of justifying draconian laws. This principle, once supreme, has been beaten down by the twin forces of globalisation and the human rights movement so that it is now, rightly, only a shadow of its old self.

The fact that a government manages to conquer a territory does not mean that it has the right to treat as it wishes the unfortunate people who find themselves within its borders. This is a lesson that Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein have learned the hard way.

Not only are Indonesian drug laws draconian, but they are dumb - far dumber than Leslie. Executing drug traffickers and putting users in jail for long periods won't reduce the drug problem.

Wide-ranging worldwide empirical studies show the greatest deterrent to wrongdoing is not the size of the penalty but the perceived risk of detection. Bigger penalties do not lead to more obedience - hence the reason that countries with capital punishment don't have lower levels of serious crime.

If harsh penalties reduced drug crime, Indonesia would by now be a drug-free zone and Australians, especially following the Schapelle Corby saga, would be reluctant to even sip a Nescafe while on their shopping and dancing holiday in Bali. Instead we see that over 3.2 million Indonesians use illegal drugs.

So where to from here?

The federal government needs to continually press the Indonesians about their barbaric drugs laws and agitate for sentencing reform in this area. Success in this regard would have the immense additional benefit of saving many local Indonesians, to whom we also owe a responsibility, from draconian sentences.

Simultaneously, we need to provide the best possible legal representation and counselling to the growing list of young Australians rotting in the stench of Indonesian prisons. The list is only likely to grow following the recently announced policy of random drug-testing in Bali.

Australians caught with drugs while overseas are stupid, but they are no less worthy of our concern and assistance than Australians who through their stupid acts run into other forms of trouble. The minimisation of pain is one of the greatest priorities of a civilised society. This applies even in relation to people who are not within our borders.